Nora's New Life
by Crystalteen
Summary: At the end of Act III, Nora takes control of her own life ... and the results of her determination, as well as all of her hard work, really pays off. One-Shot.


**A** **/N: Greetings, my lovely viewers!**

 **Recently, my English class finished reading "A Doll's House" and, for the final assignment, I was required to write a short story that would share my thoughts on what happened at the end of Act III.**

 **In case any of you are wondering, I got an A. :D So, I want to post my short story here on FanFiction to get feedback from all of you.**

 **Feel free to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me at anytime. I absolutely adore hearing what my viewers have to say, so don't hold back!**

 **Happy reading, everybody! :)**

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Through the falling snow, the moonlight gleamed against the stone walls of the medium-sized cottage. Hundreds of towering high trees surrounded it, branches naked from the abandonment of their leaves and spread in a variety of directions like a sea of wide-open arms. The cobblestone path that led up to the front door was completely iced and there were no more flowers in sight, courtesy of this being the beginning of December.

Inside, Nora was resting on her left side and listening to the sound of the crisp wind whistling through the late sky from her cozy bed. There was a soft smile molded across her rosy lips and genuine peace was glimmering in her hazel irises as she stared out the window that was closest to her side of the bedroom. Frost was practically forming right in front of her and she couldn't seem to remember the last time when she ever felt this delighted. Although, at the same time, she was very aware of how she had never experienced such happiness in the past because she wasn't at all pleased with her previous life. She had allowed herself to become the doll of Torvald, but not because she loved him. On the contrary, she had been in love with the thought of being in love, which resulted in her clinging to her husband and trying to convince herself for all those years that the rich lifestyle was what she wanted to live by. Nonetheless, that was in the past.

It had been almost seven years since she had walked out on Torvald and took charge of her own life. It took plenty of time, patience, and determination; but while lying in that simple bed and watching the snow get tossed around in a variety of patterns from the opposite side of the cold glass, Nora knew that it was all worth it. There were no words that could possibly describe how much she loved her new life, and there was no amount of money in the entire universe that could ever convince her to go back to her old one. Torvald had even went against Nora's wishes and made multiple attempts to contact her through letters; but without even bothering to read them, Nora would simply rip them to pieces and toss them away in the trash.

Anne-Marie had died three years after Nora left; but before that, she always made sure to visit the cottage at least three times every two weeks. Kristine also made sure to have a day open in her schedule every so often in order to visit Nora and her new life. However, with all of the duties that she was given at the bank and her new marriage with Krogstad, the only time that Kristine found the time to get away was around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and birthdays. Torvald, on the other hand, _never_ visited the cottage. Neither did the three children that he forced Nora to have, as they got old enough to the point where they understood why she left in the first place. The three of them didn't hold any grudge against Nora. On the contrary, they blamed their father entirely for controlling her, manipulating her, and forcing her to live up to his expectations in order to prevent _his_ reputation from getting tarnished.

A fire crackled from the fireplace that was across from the foot of the bed, casting a bright, warm, golden glow throughout the bedroom. It illuminated against the wooden walls and shined over the many framed paintings that Nora had created herself. About a month after she left Torvald and started attending church by her own desires, she realized that she had a true admiration for painting. Now, nearly every room in the cottage was accompanied by at least three Nora Adley originals. All of them were created out of vibrant colors and portraying scenes that revolved around the four seasons, as well as different holidays. They were all remarkable.

Suddenly, just as Nora was about to sink her head further into her pillow and rest her eyes for the evening, she felt a small kick come from beneath the woven, multicolored, checkered quilt that was draped closely around her body. With no hesitation, Nora's eyes shot open and she became as stiff as a statue. There was a brief pause before she felt the same sensation, resulting in excitement bursting through her eyes like firecrackers.

"Oh my, oh my, oh my!" Nora tittered like a squirrel, trying to prevent herself from speaking too loudly as she sat up as quickly as she could and pushed the quilt off from her. Her porcelain face was covered by an overjoyed grin.

She placed her bare feet firmly against the wooden floorboards, stood up from the soft bed, and trotted over to the mirror. It was in the corner of the room, prompt up against the wall between the mahogany dresser and the large china cabinet that was filled with homemade pottery.

Upon seeing her reflection, Nora's smile expanded to the point where nearly all of her pearly white teeth were exposed. Her long, wavy, brunette hair might've been a little on the disheveled side, but she didn't allow that to get in the way of her cheerful mood. Instead, she glanced down at her round belly, which was noticeably protruding from underneath the fabric of her sleek olive-green nightgown, and delicately placed both of her hands on either sides of it. She let out a soft chuckle and could've sworn that she felt a couple of tears starting to weld up in the corners of her eyes, especially when she felt another tiny kick come from her unborn child.

"Goodness, this is a miracle from God, indeed!" Nora cheered to herself, right before she glanced back over in the direction of the bed. "Vincent! Vincent, darling, wake up!"

Almost instantly, the man that had gotten Nora to believe in the existence of miracles again let out a sound that sounded like a mixture between a snore and a stir from the opposite side of the bed. He had skin that looked like it was made out of melted caramel and mid-length hair that was as black as the feathers of a raven. Aside from that, he possessed eyes that perfectly resembled two polished emeralds and a muscular figure that was given to him after years of chopping wood for a living. Needless to say, he was unbelievably handsome.

Vincent Adley had met Nora for the first time ever at church. Shortly after the first service that Nora gladly attended without Torvald's instructions, Vincent introduced himself and made a comment about how he hadn't seen her around his church before. He had been attending this specific church ever since he was a small lad, while Nora had decided to look for a new church and chose his in the hopes of lessening her chances at coming in contact with her ex-husband ever again. The two of them became good friends almost immediately; but after about three months of knowing each other, Nora and Vincent realized that their connection was starting to become a romantic one. So, the two allowed themselves to commit in a relationship that resulted in Vincent asking for Nora's hand in marriage after a whole year of pure happiness and no burdens.

With his eyes half opened and full of drowsiness, Vincent slowly rolled over in order to face his wife. The springs in the mattress made noise from the shifting of his weight, but nobody seemed to be affected by that.

"Nora?" Vincent yawned huskily and pushed some of his messy hair out of his face, noticing from the corner of his eye that it was still dark outside. "Love, what are you doing out of bed at this hour? The moon is still up. If, by any chance, you're interested in us spending some _quality time_ together as husband and wife, can't it at least wait until Kristine and Krogstad come in the morning to play with the kids outside in the snow?"

Nora narrowed her eyes in a playful manner, catching the teasing smirk that had tugged at the corners of her husband's lips as he said his final sentence. It was obvious that he was just telling a joke. His humor was one of the many things that Nora loved about him, especially since Torvald never cracked the tiniest whiff of humor.

"Now, if I were you, I'd watch it, mister." Nora retaliated with amusement decorating her features. "Need I remind you that our young children are in the room?"

Chuckling, Vincent turned his head to look at the five-year-old triplets that were fast asleep in the center of the bed—two sons and a daughter that went by the names Barrett, Thomas, and Ella. By morning, they would officially be known as a trio of six-year-olds.

"Ah, the three of them are like me when they sleep. They're as sound as logs, so it would be impossible for them to have heard me." Vincent pointed out.

He flashed one of his charming smiles as he gently stroked some of Ella's hair out of her face, right before he removed Barrett's thumb from his mouth and repositioned Thomas's teddy bear to prevent it from falling off the bed. Afterwards, he gladly tucked the blanket better around the three of them.

"Besides, it was nothing more than a harmless joke ... but we really do need to remind them when the sun comes up that they have their own bedrooms right across the hall. Otherwise, the day will come in which you and I are sharing our bed with three teenagers."

Ella looked like a perfectly constructed porcelain doll, obtaining plump pink lips, a button nose, a complexion that was as white as snow, bouncy black curls, and optimistic eyes that were the color of almonds. Thomas, on the other hand, possessed his father's dark tan skin, his mother's sleek brunette hair that he kept brushed in a spiky style, sapphire eyes that were skipped down from Nora's deceased father, and a slightly more pointed nose. Lastly, Barrett had Nora's porcelain complexion, Vincent's determined green eyes, raven-colored hair that was slightly wavy, and a nose that was very similar to Ella's nose.

"Now, what is it that has made you wake me up?" Vincent inquired, cocking an eyebrow in curiosity.

Nora's lovely smile brightened, baring her dimples and plenty of her teeth again as she answered with, "It's our fourth child. I can feel them kicking inside of my womb!"

As soon as those words left his wife's mouth, Vincent's eyes widened to the point where he could've sworn that they had become the size of two globes. As if he had never been tired, he tossed his legs over the edge of the bed and jumped up, making sure to make as little noise as possible in order to prevent disturbing the triplets from their slumber. Except for a pair of cotton trousers, he was wearing nothing.

"Little Winifred?" Vincent asked, addressing the unborn baby as the name that he and his wife had settled on in case it were a girl.

Nora smirked and objected playfully by saying, "Or little Claude!"

Regardless of how the happy couple only wanted another healthy child and truly didn't care whether it was a boy or a girl, Nora believed that it was going to be another son and Vincent had faith that it was going to be another daughter.

"Now, come place your hand on my belly before you miss another kick." Nora instructed as she continued to rub both of her hands around her plump stomach.

With no hesitation, Vincent scurried over to his wife and allowed her to take a hold of both of his wrists. With the two of them now standing in front of the mirror, Nora guided Vincent's strong hands to her stomach and placed her own hands on top of his. Their fingers laced together and the entire room became engulfed in silence, not including the sounds of the fire crackling and the icy wind screeching outside. It only took a couple of seconds before a couple of more kicks came from Nora's womb, resulting in Vincent's jaw dropping.

"Oh ... oh my goodness..." Vincent said, almost at a loss for words for being so overjoyed. "It's ... it's kicking, Nora! It's actually kicking for me!"

"I know, my love, I know!" Nora couldn't help but sniffle between every few ecstatic giggles, feeling nothing but utter happiness charging through every single vein in her body. "It's a magical feeling, isn't it?"

"Indeed, it is ... it really, really is."

Vincent lightly drew circles around his wife's bellybutton with his thumbs, making her giggle a little more from the ticklish sensation.

Torvald never cared to feel Nora's stomach when she had been pregnant with his children. He always declared that if the child kicked once, then it surely would kick at a time when he wasn't busy dealing with paperwork, meetings, or letters. So, Nora only had Anne-Marie and the other servants to count on during all three of her pregnancies; but that wasn't anything like the experience she had with Vincent. He might've been a hardworking man, but he always made sure to put his family and friends first. When Nora had been carrying the triplets, he never left her side unless she promised him that she would be okay without his assistance. He gave her massages, provided candlelit baths for her, held her hair back when she suffered from morning sickness, brought her any of the meals that she requested in order to satisfy her cravings, and held her hand through every contraction until she managed to deliver all three of their children. Now, with the fourth baby on the way, Vincent was the exact same way as he had been back then.

"Oh, Nora, what's the matter?" Vincent asked as he removed one of his hands from his wife's belly, placed it lightly against the cheek that Torvald had once struck, and stroked away a tear that had fallen from her eye. "You have water in your eyes, sweetheart."

Nora sniffled again, offering him a loving smile. "There's no need to worry about that, Vincent. They're nothing more than tears of joy."

Upon hearing that, the dark-haired gentleman returned the grin and took a glance around the toasty bedroom. His gentle eyes took in the sight of Thomas, Ella, and Barrett once more, in which all three of them were still tucked away in dreamland and breathing peacefully. Vincent then redirected his attention to Nora, lowering his hand from her face in order to go back to rubbing her stomach.

"There are no words in all of existence that could possibly begin to describe how much I love you and our four children, Nora." Vincent said, right before he knelt down and placed a long, delicate, sweet kiss against the silk material that guarded her tummy. "You are certainly the best thing that has ever happened to me. Just as I was asking God to send me a miracle ... you appeared in my life and made me the luckiest man in the whole world."

With more happy tears starting to leak down Nora's cheeks, she started to sweetly stroke her husband's hair. "Before you came along, Vincent, I had given up on miracles. On that night, almost seven whole years ago, when my ex-husband struck me upside my face for the sake of his own reputation ... I truly believed that God had abandoned me. I never thought that I would ever be able to find an actual gentleman who would truly love me, especially with the mistakes that I've committed in the past ... but then, when our eyes met after that one church sermon, it dawned on me that God still had plenty of plans in store for me. You changed me in many, many great ways."

Just then, Vincent stood back up and lightly tucked some of Nora's messy hair behind her ear.

"Nora, I didn't change anything," he corrected with a proud glow in his emerald irises, "it was you who changed yourself. I was no more than the lucky gentleman who was able to capture your attention ... and don't think that I didn't notice over our first few months of friendship that you had received plenty of flirtatious offers from other men."

"Settling on any man is exactly how I ended up in the arms of Torvald. After leaving him, the first thing that I realized was that I didn't want just any other man to put a ring on my finger." Nora remarked, sneaking a sweet kiss against her lover's cheek. "I wanted the one who has been there for me ever since I first met him—the one who never stopped encouraging me to keep following my dreams and the one who offered me a handkerchief every time I shed the smallest teardrop over my departed father and close friend, Dr. Rank. There is no other man that God could've possibly created that could ever come the tiniest smidge close to stealing my heart from your hands, my dear husband. I am your wife."

Vincent smirked, connecting his arms around Nora's waist while she wrapped her own arms around his neck.

"My wife, but most certainly not my doll ... and for that, along with our growing family, I am most definitely blessed. I love you, Nora."

"I love you, too, Vincent."

At last, the young woman stood up on her tiptoes and the handsome gentleman bowed his head, sealing their lips together in a passionate kiss. As this happened, their three children continued to sleep in their medium-sized bed and their upcoming child safely fluttered once again inside of Nora's womb.

Nora was no longer a doll. On the contrary, she was the hardworking, creative, loving human being that she strode to become for so long ... and the final results of her progress was far better than she ever imagined it would be.

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 **A/N: There you all have it! :D**

 **I hope you all had fun reading this little story that I wrote for my English class!**

 **Remember, I love receiving feedback! Don't hesitate to share your thoughts with me at anytime!**

 **Thanks again for taking the time to read. I appreciate every single one of you. You're all _amazing!_ :D :D**

 **Until my next update, everyone!**

 **Happy early Valentine's Day, by the way! :) :)**

 **Crystalteen, out!**


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